Olive Kimball

AAS General Science 1952

Honorary PhD Biological Sciences 2000

Olive Cornish Kimball, a native of Calumet, graduated with a bachelor's degree in general science (medical technology) in 1952. She also earned both a master’s degree in science education and a PhD in educational psychology from Northern Illinois University. In addition, she has studied at Bryn Mawr College and Harvard University.

In 2007, Olive retired from the Chicago-based National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences, where she served as CEO for eight years. She was responsible for all of the agency's operations, including accreditation of approximately 700 academic programs nationwide. For 22 years prior to those duties, she was an administrator at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. She also has done work for the National Academy of Sciences and Argonne National Laboratory.

She has published widely and presented at numerous conferences. She has been honored by the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professionals, the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Sciences, and Alpha Mu Tau, t he National Honorary Medical Technology Fraternity. Since her retirement, she has consulted with several agencies, including the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Olive says her Tech education prepared her “beautifully” for her subsequent study and work. She maintains strong ties with her alma mater. She has served as a trustee of Michigan Tech Fund; she was the first woman to receive Tech’s Board of Trustees Silver Medal; she has been inducted into the University’s Academy of Sciences and Arts; and she was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in Biological Sciences in 2000. “I value what Tech as an educational institute can do and can become,” she says.